That's ridiculous, only rain can make it melt. Everyone knows THAT!

 

what is a bump steer kit? thanks

 

I think the way he presented his information was very respectful and the way you're trying to display him like some sort of jackass is pretty tasteless. I come from cars where we mess with the suspension A LOT (MKIV Supras) and to be perfectly honest, there are MANY drawbacks to altering a stock suspension's height. I appreciate his info, and now bringing it over here looking for a public bashing is pretty clownish to say the least.

 

Whatever man - your opinion duly noted.

Read what he said - telling me that how I probably wound up in a cornfield by lowering my C5 without re-balancing the car.

Are you really saying you think it was necessary to tell the guy that asked if it would damage his F55 suspension if he lowered his C5 all the stuff he said?

I wanted to know if anyone here thought is was necessary to balance all four corners of a C5 after lowering it on the stock suspension limits.

Most of the folks here are my friends - and I don't normally expect to be flamed for providing correct and pertinent info to a person asking a simple question.

Personally, I thought it was clownish for a guy with no posts to jump in with no attempt to say "hey, I have been racing for 20 years , and while it will not damage your car, you could think about these issues..." but rather his just told the fellow that it is not as simple (it is) and that he HAD TO REBALANCE THE CAR TO MAKE IT SAFE (wrong).

best regards -

mqqn

 

The tie rods travel through a different arc than the A arms and when one side goes under load in a turn (either from the suspension compression or hitting a bump) the steering ratio between the front tires changes. Or with the rear tires over a bump or under load one tire will exhibit more or less toe than the opposing tire.

The bump steer kit aligns the tie rod ends so that there is zero toe change through the entire arc of suspension travel.

Bump steer is not the rear end kicking out over rough road, that is due to a stiff suspension and run crap tires, or over inflated tires or bad shocks etc.

 

Well I guess if you follow a manual's advice, balancing it wouldnt make much sense to me, because manuals have a certain precedence in their instructions. What they instruct you to do, they've tested before to make sure it works. When using our coilovers on our vehicles and not having a book to go by, it's recommended that was get our cars balanced for safety and proper handling. Is lowering a c5 dangerous? On MANY levels, of course it is. It's also expensive if you don't/can't get your camber corrected after a slam. All I'll say is his initial posts (i didnt read them all cuz I have other things to do) I certainly agree with and I think he displayed his information respectively. I'm just not one for parading around someone else trying to make them look like a jackass to your friends. I don't find it very respectable. At all.

 

This is new info to me. Why wouldnt chevy have something on the car like this from the factory? There has to be a reason, or a drawback to it.

 

Hi Mark

Well- I think you should have read all of the info before you came on here and called me clownish.

No big deal -

best regards -

mqqn

 

primarly it is a very hard adjustment to do and to be frank the stock set-up is "good enough" for street driving. However when in competition it can account for those few one thousandths of a second in the corners that will determine win or loss.

The point is that when you have the two front tires fighting each other and not steering in the same radius at the same time, the fight between the two results in a tight condition and the car will push through the corner. As far as safety, if this affects you on the street, than you would be driving like a maniac and the factor of safety has nothing to do with the car, but the fool behind the wheel. The auto manufactures try to default the suspension setups on the general public as tight (front tires pushing). To recover a tight car you just take your foot off the gas, to recover a loose car takes a lot more skill. The manufacture has to assume no skill. And to some degree no brains

Of course all this depends on your setup. Sway bars, tires, shocks, alignment all play an interdependent role in how your car handles.

As for the discussion on safety of lowering? It is perfectly safe as long as you take it in and have it realigned. The weighting is another factor which is largely for race cars and not so much for the street. I mean, look at what people put in their trunks , think about passangers and the changes their weight in the car makes. Lowering the car will not have as much affect as the change from a full tank of gas to an empty tank, plus running with and without a passanger.

I have not addressed the "other board issue" because it is a mute point to me. All the normally changing road and load conditions for a street driven car affect the car much more than a simple lowering on stock bolts ~ "done properly".

Remember you can drive a car with active handling into the ditch if that is where you steer it! And. A fool with a tool is above all still a fool!

 

The original question was whether it could be done and whether it could cause damage specifically to the F55 setup. The response was not answering these questions.

What was said was not wrong and has alot of value but it applies primarily for vettes being driven on the track at or close to 95-100% of their limits. He may be accustomed to setups like that which he then depends on. To him and others like him, it's required.

 

Hi Dragon -

Good points - I thought about that some myself -

If you really have to "rebalance" a C5 after it is lowered, then shouldn't you do it with the driver in the car (I am 245 lbs - this has got to change the weight at some of the tires, right?)

And then, shouldn't you have it re-balanced if the wife wants to come along?

And then what if you want to go on a road trip and load it up with luggage and the like? Re-balance again?

Like you said - for a street driven car, this step is not necessary - alignment yes, but more for the sake of expensive tires than fear of some handling anomaly that would cause a crash.

Well, in the end, anyone can do whatever.

best regards -

mqqn

 

He took the words ROOMM.